Work in Progress Series – Attacker Starship, Images and Video

New Enemy – Attacker Starship

This weekend I managed to bang-out a new enemy starship model, UV map it, texture, bumpmap, light, and add special effects over just two days.  The Attacker Starship is likely going to be used as a level boss.  I decided to post a Work in Progress series of images, and finally a video, in case anyone wants to see what the process flow was like for the texturing.

The Model

This first image is simply of the model itself.  There are no textures or materials added to the Attacker Starship.

Attacker Starship 1 of 6

Adding in Bump Maps

In this image, the bump maps have been added to the model.  You can see how quickly the model starts looking more realistic simply by adding the bump map layer as it fills in more for the observers eyes.

Attacker Starship 2 of 6

Giving it a Skin

Now that the bump maps have been completed, I can work from that image file to start making the textures of the ship.  Think of textures as being the skin and skin colour of the model.  It adds a large amount of detail and realism.

Attacker Starship 3 of 6

Glossy and Reflective Materials

Next up is the reflectivity and gloss of the textures.  This is what determines how much light bounces off the model into the viewer’s eye.  So some areas, particularly the more shiny metal, reflect more light and give it a more natural look and feel to it all.

Attacker Starship 4 of 6

Adding Glowing Engines

There are sections of the Attacker Starship that will also glow in the dark.  Namely the engines, and also the weapon feeder pipes, shown in white in the image above and below.

Attacker Starship 5 of 6

Some Special Effects

Now that all the texturing is done, it’s time to add a few special effects.  In the image below, I have added some glowing particles to the engine and to the weapon feeder pipes.  In addition, I’ve added light sources so that the glowing emitters cast light onto the model.

Attacker Starship 6 of 6

Video Example of How it Looks

With all of that done, now I can test out how it looks from other angles and in the lighting conditions of the level I’ve been using to build the model.